http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/269700-cruz-unloads-on-trump-after-slipping-in-south-carolinaFebruary 17, 2016, 12:54 pm
Cruz unloads on Trump after slipping in South Carolina polls
By Ben Kamisar
Ted Cruz on Wednesday assailed Donald Trump for threatening legal action against his campaign, unloading on the Republican front-runner ahead of the South Carolina primary.
"Donald Trump doesn’t want to be under oath answering questions about his own record because his position is anyone who points to his record is somehow lying. This threat and lawsuit is the very definition of frivolous," Cruz said at a press conference in South Carolina.
Trump’s campaign has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cruz over an ad running in South Carolina that paints the businessman as supportive of abortion rights. The ad features a clip from 1999 where Trump calls himself “very pro-choice.”
"Bullying others and threatening frivolous lawsuits is one tool he's used. The bullying is not going to work here,” Cruz said.
New polls released Wednesday show Cruz trailing Trump by double digits in South Carolina ahead of Saturday’s primary. The state had been seen as favorable territory for Cruz, given its conservative and evangelical bent, but Trump appears poised for a huge win in the state.
A new Monmouth University poll gives Trump 35 percent support in South Carolina, nearly doubling Cruz, who garnered just 19 percent.
Seeking to shake up the race, Cruz on Wednesday laid out a heated point-by-point argument about Trump’s past positions on abortion. He noted that Trump said last year that his sister would make a "phenomenal" Supreme Court justice.
"Who is his sister?" Cruz asked.
"A court of appeals judge appointed by Bill Clinton. His sister has an extreme left-wing record on the issue of abortion."
The Supreme Court has become a focal point of the presidential race following the death Saturday of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Cruz went on to accuse another rival, Marco Rubio, of taking "parallel strategies" with Trump for refusing to engage on his own record.
"Marco Rubio is behaving like Donald Trump with a smile," Cruz said.